Bheki Mlangeni, ANC human rights lawyer of Soweto, is killed by a walkman bomb meant for Dirk Coetzee.

Date: 16 Feb 1991
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Bheki Mlangeni, ANC human rights lawyer of Soweto, is killed by a walkman bomb meant for Dirk Coetzee.

Bheki Mlangeni was a lawyer working for the African National Congress (ANC) in the 1990s. He and former police Captain Dirk Coetzee had worked together to expose the existence of a secret police unit based at Vlakplaas . The unit carried out assassinations of anti-apartheid activists. Coetzee himself was the first commander of the unit before he left the police force. In 1989, Coetzee exposed the existence of the unit he once led. Fearing for his life, he fled to Zambia. When a package disguised as coming from Mlangeni failed to reach Coetzee in Zambia, it was sent back to “sender” (Mlangeni’s office). When Mlangeni opened the package to find a tape player, he took it home with him. As soon as he pressed play, after putting the earphones in his ears, there right earphone exploded. He died instantly, leaving his wife and young child. He was only 35.

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How we know this

01Coleman, M. (ed)(1998). A Crime Against Humanity: analysing the repression of the apartheid state, Johannesburg: Human Rights Committee, p. 252.
02Kraft, S., Bomb Kills ANC Lawyer Who Tracked Hit Squads : South Africa: Explosive is hidden in headphones. Colleagues say attack was intended for someone else, from Los Angeles Times, [online], Available at articles.latimes.com [Accessed: 10 February 2014]
03Reuters, (1996), from CNN, S. African apartheid assassin jailed for life, 30 October [online], Available at edition.cnn.com [Accessed: 10 February 2014]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, February 10). Bheki Mlangeni, ANC human rights lawyer of Soweto, is killed by a walkman bomb meant for Dirk Coetzee.. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0074032

South African History Online (2012) 'Bheki Mlangeni, ANC human rights lawyer of Soweto, is killed by a walkman bomb meant for Dirk Coetzee.', South African History Online, 10 February. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0074032 (Accessed: 24 July 2026).

South African History Online, Bheki Mlangeni, ANC human rights lawyer of Soweto, is killed by a walkman bomb meant for Dirk Coetzee. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0074032, (accessed 24 July 2026).

"Bheki Mlangeni, ANC human rights lawyer of Soweto, is killed by a walkman bomb meant for Dirk Coetzee.." South African History Online, 10 Feb. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0074032. Accessed 24 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Bheki Mlangeni, ANC human rights lawyer of Soweto, is killed by a walkman bomb meant for Dirk Coetzee.." South African History Online. February 10, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0074032.